The fury of Israel's offensive in Lebanon has more than a few observers shaking their heads. The vast majority of Western media reports do not accurately portray the fact that the vast majority of the dead are civilians, most of them women and children.

A Reuters dispatch this week described Israel's choice of targets as "puzzling," but for the most part Western television viewers, newspaper readers, and Web surfers are reading highly sanitized versions of the news, spun in such a way as to dilute the brutality of the Israeli onslaught and especially to ensure that blame is placed squarely on Lebanon in general and Hizbullah in particular.

Of course there are brave and honorable Western journalists working here, and many of them are determined to tell the truth about what is happening. One has to assume, therefore, that what the decent ones report is being heavily edited somewhere along the line before it gets to the consumer. This is presumably intended as a prophylactic against the inevitable charges of "anti-Semitism" and resultant drops in advertising revenues that will follow unvarnished coverage of Israeli brutality. The product of this regime of fear has been a generation of biased reporting that portrays the Jewish state as weak when it is very strong, moderate when it is frequently extremist, democratic when it is often theocratic, liberal when it is commonly draconian - in short, "Western" when it is anything but.

Coverage of the current conflict is a case in point. The two most commonly watched English-language news channels available in Lebanon are CNN and the BBC. With few exceptions, their reports are filed by reporters standing in the relatively safe and comfortable confines of Downtown Beirut, the picturesque showcase of Lebanon's now-aborted recovery from its 1975-90 Civil War. There has been no damage in this part of the city thus far (although there are concerns that that step in the escalation process is rapidly approaching), so the very background is highly misleading about what is happening. Just a few kilometers away in Beirut's Dahiyeh Junubiyyeh (southern suburbs), Israeli air strikes and naval gunfire have reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble. No one knows how many people are buried in these piles of shattered concrete and twisted steel, only that local residents would have had far less warning than Hizbullah members did about the beginning of so many ends - and that most of their escape routes were cut off by the destruction of roads and overpasses before the Dahiyeh itself became a target.

A similar situation exists in the southern third of the country, usually a half-hour bus ride from Beirut. Now it can take hours in either direction because vehicles cannot get through. Instead, people are shuttled from one giant crater to the next, where they walk across debris-strewn holes in the ground or wade through rivers once spanned by wrecked bridges to reach another taxi or mini-bus that will take them to the next impasse. Throughout the journey, their vehicles are subject to Israeli attacks, so many people stay home and try to "ride it out." But a considerable number are subsequently convinced to run the gauntlet when the Israeli military warns them that they have "two or three hours" to leave their villages. On numerous occasions, such warnings have been followed less than an hour later by air or artillery strikes on civilian vehicles leaving the village. They keep leaving, though, because those who stay in their homes have frequently found out that the Israelis mean it when they say an area is about to become "unsafe" for civilians: Dozens of civilians have been killed in their own homes - with and without warnings beforehand. The message for these unfortunate people is that "nowhere is safe." In fact, that is precisely what an Israeli general said in the opening stages of the offensive.

Why has the Israeli military singled out these two areas for punishment? Because they are populated primarily by the impoverished and largely disenfranchised Shiites who make up Hizbullah's constituency. Multiple ironies are at work here. For one thing, the Dahiyeh's 500,000-strong population consists largely of Shiites from the South Lebanon who have fled successive waves of Israeli "retribution" (i.e. collective punishment). When Palestinian militias attacked northern Israel from South Lebanon in the 1970s, one of Israel's answers was indiscriminate bombardment. This drove tens of thousands of local villagers to Beirut, where they established the Dahiyeh.

For another, when Israel first invaded Lebanon in 1978 (not 1982, as typically reported in the Western media), many Shiites greeted them with rose petals. Life under the de facto rule of unruly Palestinian militias had not been easy, so despite the damage and casualties inflicted by Israeli ripostes, it was commonly believed that Israeli occupation might not be so bad. Then came 1982, when the Israelis rolled all the way to Beirut after promising Washington that they meant only to establish a 25-kilometer "buffer zone." The carnage in the South was horrific, and the ensuing occupation included measures like the dismissal of local village elders in favor of appointed stooges and provocations timed to coincide with sensitive religious dates. The Shiites revolted, and Hizbullah was born.

Subsequent spasm of violence (the worst in 1985 and 1996), usually caused by tit-for-tat exchanges between Hizbullah and the Israeli military that spun out of control, displaced more and more Shiites, filling the Dahiyeh with an understandably resentful generation of young men determined to run no more.

All of this goes unmentioned on CNN. Its idea of "balance" is to make sure that each report about a new massacre of innocents in Lebanon is aired alongside one about civilian injuries or deaths from Hizbullah rocket strikes, even if the incident is 36 hours old. Only rarely do the reports in question mention that while the Dahiyeh is for all intents and purposes a giant refugee camp, northern Israel and the nearby settlements in occupied Palestine are prosperous areas with a substantial contingent of immigrants from places like the United States and Canada, many of whom voluntarily live illegally on occupied Palestinian land.

Hizbullah's decision to snatch two Israeli soldiers evinced poor judgment and even worse timing, but the Israeli response has been out of all proportion to the original incident. The numbers speak for themselves. As of Wednesday evening, Israeli attacks had killed at least 292 civilians in Lebanon, while Hizbullah rockets had killed 13 noncombatants in the Jewish state. Lebanon has approximately 3.5 million people. On a per-capita basis, that means that as of Wednesday, the rough equivalent of 9/11 has happened every day here for eight days.

Now that Ayman al-Zawahiri, or rather the stand-in we are told is Ayman al-Zawahiri, has sanctioned Hezbollah’s resistance against Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, we can expect the corporate media to have a field day, connecting Hezbollah to “al-Qaeda” and its crazed Sunni beheaders.

As we know, al-Zawahiri has verified links to the Pentagon, as he served as commander of the Mujahedeen forces in the Balkans.

“The role of the Pentagon in airlifting the Mujahedeen terrorists into Bosnia and Kosovo between 1992 to 1995 has been well documented and widely reported in the European and Canadian media, but almost completely ignored in the United States,” writes Tim Howells for Online Journal.

Another bit of information, long ago flushed down the memory hole (reconstituted here), reveals how al-Zawahiri was sponsored by FBI operative and failed CIA agent Ali Mohamed, who brought him to San Francisco on a “covert fund-raising mission” during the Pentagon’s recruitment of “al-Qaeda,” sent to Bosnia (see this congressional press release, dated 16 January 1997).

“The war with Israel does not depend on cease-fires…. It is a Jihad for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails … from Spain to Iraq,” the Pentagon operative al-Zawahiri told the world through al-Jazeera television, never mind that al-Zawahiri’s violent version of Wahabbi Sunni Islam is at odds with Shi’a Islam, the sect Hezbollah’s follows.

“Zawahiri’s comments indicated that Al-Qaeda, which is made up of Sunni Islamist extremists, was prepared to help Hezbollah despite differences with the Shia sect,” adds the Khaleej Times.

If we are to buy the official version of events, “al-Qaeda” has spent a lot of time and money in Iraq slaughtering Shi’a Muslims, deemed infidels deserving little more than an ignoble death. But both have put aside their differences—for instance, the bloody Shi’a-Sunni sectarian violence in Iraq—and are now happily collaborating.

In an effort to iron out this inconsistency, the neocons have flipped into overdrive. “If the Lebanese conflict drags on, it would be likely that al Qaeda would try to work again with its occasional ally in an alliance of convenience that could benefit both groups,” writes Douglas Farah, a former “investigative journalist” for the CIA’s favorite newspaper, the Washington Post. “The chaos in the region benefits all the non-state armed groups, and such circumstances often give rise to transitory (or perhaps permanent) alliances between groups that share the same goals and resources. While Zarqawi fanned the flames of the Sunni-Shi’ite divide inside Iraq, it was in part a tactical decision to weaken the government and cause a civil war, rather than a theological decision.”

Those silly Muslims didn’t really mean it and they are as amoral and Machiavellian as their sponsors, a rotating lazy Susan of usual suspects, including the Pentagon, CIA, ISI, MI6, and of course Mossad.

“The shells and rockets ripping apart Muslim bodies in Gaza and Lebanon are not only Israeli (weapons), but are supplied by all the countries of the crusader coalition. Therefore, every participant in the crime will pay the price.” In other words, the CIA-ISI spawned “al-Qaeda,” supposedly headed up by the dead Freddy Kruger Islamic nemesis Osama bin Laden, will attack the “crusader coalition” in the name of Hezbollah.

Of course, no demonization of a legitimate resistance movement would be complete without a cameo appearance by the Muslim Evil One himself. “Another new audio or video message from bin Laden was also expected in the coming days and was planned to deal with Gaza and Lebanon, according to IntelCenter. The U.S.-based independent group provides counterterrorism information to the U.S. government and media,” that is to say it serves as a propaganda outfit dispensing scary campfire stories, designed in part to stampede Americans into supporting the neocon Crusade and total “clash of civilizations” war, promised by our rulers to last a hundred or more years.

Back in 2003, the scurrilous neocon, Iran-Contra criminal, PNAC and CFR member, Richard Armitage, told CBS’ Sixty Minutes “Hezbollah may be the ‘A-Team of Terrorists’ and maybe al-Qaeda is actually the ‘B’ team. And they’re on the list and their time will come…. There is no question about it—it’s all in good time. And we’re going to go after these problems just like a high school wrestler goes after a match. We’re going to take them down one at a time.”

Here in America, a semi-somnolent and easily distracted public, consumers of endless official lies and dissimulation wrapped in fancy computer graphics and delivered by vacuous anchors, will likely buy into the effort to churn Hezbollah into an “al-Qaeda” variant, or if neocons such as Armitage have their way, an ominous terrorist group eclipsing “al-Qaeda.”

However, in Lebanon, this make-over is meaningless, as Hezbollah will continue to fight against the invading and marauding Israelis, regardless of Israeli and American propaganda.

Finally, Hezbollah’s Hasan Nasrallah told CBS’ Ed Bradley in 2003: “I believe the Americans are just saying what the Israelis want them to say. I consider this to be an Israeli accusation coming out of an American mouth and nothing more.”

Indeed, this is the case every time one flips on Fox News and its imitators.

Odd, isn't it, that the 'Islamic' ISIS attacks Arab States, and doesn't lift a finger against Israel, despite what Israel is doing to Palestinians. They are hardly badly armed or led; guess their Western and Israeli Commanders, and Saudi and Qatari Banksters, don't choose to order it!_________________'And he (the devil) said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them'. Luke IV 5-7.

The failure to attack Israel may not be a coincidence. According to Veterans Today, citing French sources, Al-Baghdadi, the erstwhile caliph of ISIS is actually one Simon Elliot, born of Jewish parents and a Mossad agent.

That would fit with earlier information from Jordan that ISIS was trained in Jordanian camps by the CIA.

Simon Elliot (Elliot Shimon) aka Al-Baghdadi was born of two Jewish parents and is a Mossad agent.
We offer below three translations that want to assert that the Caliph Al-Baghdadi is a full Mossad agent and that he was born Jewish father and mother:
The real name of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is “Simon Elliott.”
The so-called “Elliot” was recruited by the Israeli Mossad and was trained in espionage and psychological warfare against Arab and Islamic societies.
This information was attributed to Edward Snowden and published by newspapers and other Web sites: the head of the “Islamic State” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has cooperated with the U.S. Secret Service, British and Israel to create an organization capable of attracting terrorist extremists from around the world.
Source: Radio ajyal.com
Another source corroborates this statement, the site Egy-press:
With photo support, a Iranian media discovers the true identity of the Emir Daash, a trained Zionist agent.
Iranian intelligence discovered the true and full identity of the Emir Daash, which is known under the name Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi; his real name is Elliot Shimon. Its role in Mossad secret agent in the Zionist espionage. His false name: Ibrahim ibn Awad ibn Ibrahim Al Al Badri Arradoui Hoseini.
The plan: get into the military and civilian heart of the countries that are declared as a threat to Israel in order to destroy to facilitate thereafter, the takeover by the Zionist state on the entire area of the Middle East in order to establish Greater Israel.
Here are the borders of the Zionist project, the “Greater Israel” or “Eretz Israel” for short.
These facts confirm the first that came out a few days ago, confirming that the Caliph Rolex is sent to Israel to sow chaos in neighboring countries the Zionist entity. Please note that EIIL announced it a few days ago that, to want to now take the “barbarians Jews”, a reference to Zionists besiege Gaza.
Practice! Having devastated the area of Israel, it will now allow the Americans and the Israelis to show the fingers as bloody terrorists to shoot at faster to defend the Zionist state, while the same let them proliferate and act with impunity for over two months now. Prepare a project they probably from the famous Arab Spring with the destabilization of Iraq, Sudan, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Mali (among others). Clever!
Listen and listen again Bernard-Henri Lévy on these so-called Arab Spring:

YouTube - Veterans Today -
After gathering the most fanatical of the world in one place, a veritable army of the devil is formed, filled with bloodthirsty murderers without mercy for their victims, they murder with a vengeance and in cold blood, filming their atrocities and relaying on social networks.

How come Obomba hasn't ordered drone strikes against ISIS/ISIL or whatever the mercenary murderers call themselves, the 'Caliphate'?
The US supposedly supports the Iraqi 'Govt.' The Iraqi 'Govt.'obviously would openly welcome such Drone strikes (unlike the US oriented Military Regime in Pakistan, which whilst covertly agreeing, won't publicly acknowledge their acquiescence).
So, ?que pase? What gives?
Could it be that the al-Baghdadi (aka Simon Elliot) 'Caliphate' is dancing to the NWO Bankster War Criminal tune?
Perish the thought! _________________'And he (the devil) said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them'. Luke IV 5-7.

'...The violence came hours after Prime Minister Tammam Salam hinted he might step down following violent protests on Saturday that injured more than 100 people.

The demonstrations, the largest in years to shake Lebanon, seek to upend what protesters see as a corrupt and dysfunctional political system that has no functional Cabinet or parliament, nor a president for more than a year.

Protest organisers said they pulled their supporters out of the area after men they described as political thugs began fighting with police, trying to tear down a barbed wire fence separating the crowds from the Lebanese government building....

I wonder who's paying these 'political thugs'?

4* General (Retd.) Wesley Clark: 'Seven Governments in five years - Iraq, Syria, LEBANON, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran..'_________________'And he (the devil) said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them'. Luke IV 5-7.

Tonight aired almost a whole hour on Iran including an interview at 27:20 about 'You Stink', Lebanon and ISIS with Andre Vltchek and discussion with Iranian born Bristol activist Mehnaz Shahabi which you can download here.

The Iran-backed Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah, classified for many years by U.S. Intelligence as a terrorist organization, is training Christians to fight ISIS in Lebanon and the Middle Eastern believers say their new and unlikely allies "accept us as we are."
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Persecuted Middle Eastern Christians Gain Overwhelming Support in US House of Representatives

Rifit Nasrallah, a Catholic businessman who is part of the militias fighting ISIS in Ras Baalbek, discussed the alliance with Hezbollah in an International Business Times report last month.

"We're in a very dangerous situation," he said. "The only people who are protecting us are the resistance of Hezbollah. The only one standing with the army is Hezbollah. Let's not hide it anymore."

Nasrallah said Hezbollah does not expect its allies to convert to Islam or create an allegiance to the group's ideals.

"They accept us as we are," he said. "They do not impose on us anything. When there's an occasion, they come to our children's birthdays. The people here accept that Hezbollah comes and helps."

This unlikely alliance between Christians and Hezbollah is a far cry from the adversarial relationship depicted between the two groups in the region.

According to the IB Times report, however, the alliance is one of convenience. Hezbollah is Iran's strongest proxy in that area of Lebanon and has been a key factor in keeping President Bashar Assad's regime in power after four years of the Syrian war. Protecting Ras Baalbek is a priority for the group because losing it to ISIS would put the surrounding Shiite towns under direct threat.

As a result, Hezbollah has invested heavily in sustaining the relationship with Christians. The group trained Christians in Syria to fight ISIS alongside them, according to a November report from Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar and even paid wages similar to Hezbollah members for Christians joining their ranks.

"We are not speaking of an assumed threat, we are speaking of a real aggression that exists every hour, every day, every night," said Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in a recent speech. He explained that armed groups have launched continuous attacks inside Lebanese territories while also holding dozens of Lebanese soldiers and police officers hostage, "so we need a permanent solution."

Last fall, The Christian Post reported that GOP 2016 presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was booed after he offended some Middle Eastern Christians by declaring at an event in Washington, D.C. that "Christians have no greater ally than Israel."

Mark Tooley, president of the Institute of Religion and Democracy and an attendee at the evening event, later wrote in a blog entry that he was not surprised by the reaction.

"It's no secret that many Mideast Christians generally aren't big fans of Israel. I learned this firsthand during the 2006 Israel war on Hezbollah, when my discussion at church with a Lebanese Christian nearly escalated to a shouting match," wrote Tooley.

The Times of Israel reported in March that Iran and Hezbollah were removed from the list of terror threats against the U.S. as a result of its campaign against ISIS.

"We believe that this results from a combination of diplomatic interests (the United States' talks with Iran about a nuclear deal) with the idea that Iran could assist in the battle against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and maybe even in the battle against jihadist terrorism in other countries," the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center said in an analysis of the unclassified version of the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Communities released in February.

Another American body, the Defense Intelligence Agency, however, said both Iran and Hezbollah were still terrorism threats.

"Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and Lebanese Hezbollah are instruments of Iran's foreign policy and its ability to project power in Iraq, Syria, and beyond," noted the body in their assessment, submitted to the U.S. Senate on Feb. 26.

AhlulBayt News Agency - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon or avoid travelling there.

The move on Tuesday came after Riyadh halted $4bn in aid to Lebanese security forces.

The Saudi foreign ministry issued a statement calling on "all citizens not to travel to Lebanon, for their safety, and asking citizens residing in Lebanon or visiting not to stay unless extremely necessary".

The statement, run by the official SPA news agency, urged citizens to contact the Saudi Embassy in Beirut.

The UAE also banned its citizens from travelling to Lebanon and reduced its diplomatic presence in Beirut.

Bahrain also urged citizens against travelling to Lebanon, and called on Bahrainis there already to leave quickly, according to a statement posted to state news.

reply to said article

Quote:

'Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait have now all issued warnings against travel to Lebanon and for those there to leave. The UAE also decreased the size of its diplomatic staff at its embassy in Beirut. Looks to me that it's part of Saudi Arabia's more aggressive foreign policy broadly aimed at countering Iranian influence in the region post-nuclear deal. It follows, for example, KSA's recent suspension of pretty substantial aid to Lebanese security apparatuses. Make Lowenotwar: Not really sure what connection to Israel you're seeing here.'

possibly something imminent _________________'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'

“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”

Beirut - Saudi Arabia says Lebanon has declared war on Saudi Arabia. Usually, a declaration of war originates from the aggressor, not the other way around.

Having lost in Syria, the Saudi-Gulf-US coalition against Iran, has switched focus to Lebanon.

Lebanon is a small country of 3 million in the Eastern Mediterranean. The main religious sect is Shia Muslims. The * have a political party named Hezbollah, which was founded in the early 1980‘s, and they have a very powerful military wing. In fact, they are more powerful than the Lebanese Army.

The Israeli Army invaded and occupied the South of Lebanon from 1982 until May 24, 2000. During that period of a brutal military occupation more than 30,000 Lebanese civilians were killed, and 120,000 injured and disabled. Hezbollah was founded as a grass-roots resistance movement, with the goal of expelling the occupiers. They were successful, and brought about the liberation. The South of Lebanon was populated by both * and Christians. Lebanon’s largest Christian party, The Free Patriotic Movement, and the El Marada Movement, and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation are all Christian parties aligned with Hezbollah.

For the Shia, they see resistance to Israel as a religious duty, and the Christians see Hezbollah as their only defense against Radical terrorists.

Part of the Lebanese Sunnis, who are aligned with Saudi Arabia and USA, are against Hezbollah, and support the Israeli position against the group. However, there are many Lebanese Sunnis who support Hezbollah because they adhere to the resistance ideology.

The resistance ideology calls for the end to all Israeli occupation: in Palestine, in Lebanon and in Syria. Resistance to the Israeli occupation would end with a peace treaty between all parties. So far, this goal is just a dream.

Hezbollah is a political party, which runs in elections and has won Parliament seats, as well as a health and social services provider in Lebanon, and also a military force capable of keeping the South of Lebanon free from invasion. The only way Hezbollah could be expected to lay down their arms would be for the Israeli government to evacuate Shebaa Farms, a small area in South Lebanon, and to evacuate the Golan Heights in Syria, which the UN passed a resolution calling on Israel to leave, and to make a peace treaty with Palestine, under the UN and US approved and accepted “Two State Solution”, also known as “Land for Peace”.

However, there has been no movement on any of those goals, and so Hezbollah remains a formidable military group, which has been in Syria fighting alongside the Syrian Arab Army as they battle Radical terrorists, some of whom are directed, supported and financed by both US-NATO coalition, and their Saudi-Gulf partners.

On the one side in Syria you have the Syrian government forces, along with Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah forces, and the other side is Radical fighters by many different names, and most are supported by Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Syrian conflict is a “Proxy War”, pitting Iran’s partners against America’s partners.

Saad Hariri was the Prime Minster of Lebanon, and represented the Sunni sect. He was a pragmatic leader and chose to deal with Hezbollah and the various other parties who held differing views. He and other leaders were aiming for national unity, instead of divisions which would not be productive.

Saad Hariri was Lebanese, but also held a Saudi citizenship, due to the fact he was born in Riyadh, and raised in the household of King Fahd, as his mother was married to the King . Hariri’s father had been Prime Minster of Lebanon before his death. On November 2, 2017 Saad Hariri met with the top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, who later said the meeting was successful. The next day Hariri flew to Saudi Arabia, and the next day he announced his resignation there.

This was a serious breach in political protocol, and left the Lebanese President and Speaker of Parliament wondering what had happened, and why they were not informed personally and officially. They were watching his global televised resignation speech, which blamed Iran for basically everything wrong in the Middle East, and especially Lebanon.

It was obvious that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia was sending a message through Hariri’s resignation to Hezbollah, and to their supporter Iran, that the Kingdom was holding Saad Hariri responsible for the failure to de-arm Hezbollah, and holding Iran to blame for the Saudi-US coalition loss in the Syrian battlefields. The young Prince was angry, bitter and didn’t take a loss well. Someone would have to pay the price.

During these events, the Crown Prince was also rounding up and arresting many of the fellow Princes, all his own relatives, and placing them in detention against their will. This was done under the guise of an ‘anti-corruption’ crackdown. The charges were corruption and money laundering. The US official comments praised the decision, and seemed to stem from the lavish Anti-Terrorism Summit held in Saudi Arabia for President Trump. Since that meeting, Saudi Arabia and UAE took aim at Qatar; blaming them for sponsoring and funding terrorism: that is the pot calling the kettle black.

The US-NATO-GULF side lost the gamble in Syria. Now, they have to begin Plan B: an attempt to cut off Hezbollah’s military might in Lebanon, which played a role in the victory in Syria. This is strategic goal of Israeli, who views Hezbollah as a threat.

Due to the loss of ISIS in Syria, there is now a clear land bridge from Tehran to Beirut, which could be used to ship weapons to Hezbollah. Israel routinely attacks Syria, citing weapons being transported to Hezbollah. It is the Israel-US-Saudi-Gulf pact which seeks to de-arm Hezbollah and prevent the Iranian supplies to reach them. In the bigger picture: the Israel-US-Saudi-Gulf pact seeks to weaken Iran in the Middle East.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfTePOfMYfg_________________--
'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.comhttp://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."

On The News Line
Published on 3 May 2018After nearly a decade of turbulent politics, Lebanese voters are preparing to cast their ballots in general elections scheduled for May the sixth. Over three-point-six million registered voters will be eligible to choose among 583 candidates vying for the parliament's 128 seats. Under Lebanon’s sect-based political system, the parliament's seats are equally divided among Muslims and Christians. Moreover, the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the parliamentary speaker a Shia Muslim. Since 2009, the Lebanese have witnessed their government collapse twice in 2011 and 2013 and the presidency sit vacant for more than two years.

******************************

The 2005 assassination of Lebanon’s late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri which some blamed on the Syrian government further complicated the country’s political balance. Lebanon’s political arena has since been divided into two main camps; The pro-Syrian, March 8 bloc led by the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah and the anti-Syrian March 14 bloc backed by the West and Saudi Arabia. However, the upcoming elections will be held under a new electoral law passed in June 2017 which could end the polarization of the country’s politics. Under the new measure seventy-seven lists were formed by multiple parties in a tangled web of contradictory alliances that may disrupt the domination of the March 8 and 14 blocs.

********************************

The May six vote in Lebanon comes amid Hezbollah’s increasing popularity which has seen many Sunni groups back the movement. Hezbollah fighters played a key role in securing the country’s borders with Syria once seized by Israeli and Saudi backed militants. On the other hand, Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri’s party will have a tough job building up support after last November’s drama in Riyadh where he announced his resignation. On his return to Lebanon in December, Hariri withdrew his resignation, denying Saudi Arabia’s role in his decisions. But the issue soured relations between Saudi Arabia and Sa’ad Hariri whose party is under dire financial straits over the collapse of Saudi Oger construction firm owned by the Hariri family. Riyadh has also revived a one-billion-dollar credit line to Beirut but there has been no sign of financial support for Hariri. Given the circumstances, Hariri’s Future Movement party is expected to lose seats to rivals including Hezbollah._________________--
'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.comhttp://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."

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